Modern commercial/private aircraft, as well as older aircraft, include a myriad of instrumentation panels having controls and displays used to present information related to aircraft sensors. The controls and the displays are operated, viewed, and interpreted by a pilot/copilot during flight of an aircraft. Some of these controls are used for assisting the pilot/copilot with navigation, such as an altimeter, an airspeed indicator, a horizontal situation indicator, an attitude indicator, and the like. Other controls are used to permit radio communication with other pilots/copilots in the air or with air traffic controllers during flight. Still more controls, in recent years, are used to assist in navigation using Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) systems associated with satellite technology. Furthermore, transponder controls permit the aircraft to be uniquely identified and the aircraft's altitude communicated to air traffic controllers during flight.
For a neophyte, the quantity of controls, inputs, and display panels contained within the cockpit of an aircraft are daunting. Even experienced pilots/copilots must stay focused and alert to interpret information presented on various displays throughout the cockpit during flight and to access various controls and control inputs within the cockpit. As a result, pilots/copilots must continually scan a plurality of available displays for vital information at any particular moment in time during flight.
Conventionally, data associated with control devices, control inputs, and other sensors within the cockpit is distributed throughout the cockpit and presented on a number of displays. The various data is presented as static or conventional views within the displays. The provided views are generally not modifiable by the pilot/copilot. Accordingly, existing data views and/or data formats must be learned by the pilots/copilots, and the views cannot be individually tailored to increase the comprehension of the pilot/copilot, based on any preferences of the pilot/copilot.
In recent years, multifunction displays (MFDs) have been developed for use within the cockpit of an aircraft. Such MFDs generally contain a single display screen which provides flight data and other information associated with select aircraft sensors. Often, however, aircraft input controls are not integrated into a bezel surrounding the MFD, and sometimes such input controls are not even located in near proximity to the MFD. And, some MFDs only provide data associated with preprogrammed aircraft input controls. Correspondingly, the pilot/copilot still must manage a myriad of displays and controls located at various locations throughout the cockpit. Additionally, data presented within any one display is not necessarily well organized and structured to provide a meaningful integrated presentation to the pilot/copilot. In other words, within a single MFD related flight information data may not be logically grouped within like regions on the display, such that a single glance at the display would provide the pilot/copilot with all the desired data at any desired moment.
Moreover, existing displays do not readily permit configurable views, within the display, to include customizable overlays of additional relevant data. For example, a graphical view of an aircraft depicting the aircraft as it travels along a planned route toward a destination, generally is not customizable to permit the same graphical view to be overlaid with weather conditions occurring along the planned route, terrain conditions present along the planned route, and/or traffic conditions occurring along the planned route relative to other aircraft flying in close proximity to the planned route. And, even if some overlaid view is permitted, existing views may not allow the perspective of that view to be altered. For example, a pilot/copilot may not be capable of viewing the aircraft as it travels along the planned route from a top-down perspective, a bottom-up perspective, a birds-eye perspective, and the like. Accordingly, the pilot/copilot may be forced to accept the perspective provided with the view.
To further emphasize the problems associated with providing customization with existing MFDs, consider that conventional MFDs are not easily expanded to include additional functionality as a pilot/copilot desires. As a result, MFDs are not flexible and any modifications that require additional functionality, to support expanded display (e.g., view) integration features, requires expensive design modifications to controls, sensors, and software driving the presentation of data on the MFDs. As a result, customization within the MFD industry is rigid and cumbersome, and correspondingly pilots/copilots have learned to accept and use whatever features are provided with the MFDs by the designers/manufacturers.
Therefore, there exists a need for better customization and integration of cockpit display systems and instrument panels within the cockpit, which permit the pilot/copilot to more rapidly acquire and process flight information data from reliable regions within the display. Moreover, there exists a need for better customization and presentation of data within cockpit displays.